Captain Cardiac Co-Founders to Play Same Club

In 1972, Kevin Wachs and Steve Ogg formed a rock band at Monroe High School in Sepulveda--Captain Cardiac & the Coronaries.

They toured Valley high schools and music clubs. They had fun. And then, two years later, they split up.

“We just had philosophical differences,” said Ogg, who lives in West Hills. “We were going in different directions.”

Now, 16 years later, Wachs and Ogg will again appear on the same stage. Wachs, 34, is the drummer for the band Pacific, formed in 1974; Ogg, 35, is the lead singer of Captain Cardiac, which still survives. On June 29, they will play separate sets at Club M, the nightclub at Mancini’s Restaurant in Canoga Park, although they hope to do a few songs together.

“It’s kind of weird,” said Wachs, of Chatsworth. “We’ve played together a few times since we split up, but not in many years. As times goes on, it seems even more special. We have families now, and yet we’re still doing that rock ‘n’ roll.”

They have day jobs--Ogg is an engineering manager for Hughes Aircraft in El Segundo; Wachs owns a beauty salon in West Hills--and don’t have any plans to pursue music on a professional basis. But that doesn’t diminish the passion they share for rock, which began when they attended elementary school in the late 1960s.

“We grew up around the block from each other in Panorama City,” Wachs said. “We didn’t know what we were doing.”

Today, Ogg’s band plays mostly 1950s oldies, while Wachs’ group does a lot of surf music and other 1960s material. Their lives have changed. Their music hasn’t.

“It’s funny,” Wachs said, “but we run into people who said their parents used to hear us at high schools in the area, and we play the same music now that we did back then. And we have no plans to change.”

Wachs admits he’s a little jealous that Ogg’s group lands more prestigious, and more profitable gigs. Ogg said his band received $10,000 for a recent show, and gives about 90 performances a year across the country. Wachs’ group plays mainly in the Valley.

“But I love hearing from other people how they’re doing,” said Wachs, who remains good friends with Ogg. “And it will be great to find out in person.”

Captain Coronaries and Pacific

At Club M, 20923 Roscoe Blvd.,

Canoga Park. 9 p.m. June 29, $10.

(818) 341-7434.